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Philosophical Aspects of Origin

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Editorial policy

The editors of Philosophical Aspects of Origin adopt a Feyerabendian, pluralistic approach to knowledge. No belief should be excluded from discussion in advance, as even if it is wrong, it can still be beneficial and contribute to the development of knowledge by allowing opposite views to be confronted and thus the argumentation to be improved. Our aim then is to enable an open discussion, taking into account the opinions of various parties involved. If the article is well-written and well-argued (which does not mean that the editors agree on the theses presented there or are convinced by the argumentation), it can be published in Philosophical Aspects of Origin, provided it passes the reviewing process.

We believe that high-quality research on the nature of science should be related to the key focal points in this area, including the problem of the essence of science and the debate on the demarcation criterion; the problem of underdetermination of theories by empirical data; the notion of the theory-ladeness of observations; the notion of incommensurability of scientific theories; the role of philosophy and other non-empirical or logical factors in the formulation and justification of theories, etc.

The observation of the debates conducted within the philosophy of science allows one to single out a number of findings that are of key importance in terms of the research on science and the relation between science and religion: 1) there is no way of defining a precise demarcation criterion between science and metaphysics, religion or pseudoscience; 2) philosophy, and metaphysical assumptions in particular, plays an important role in science, defining the general framework within which scientific research is conducted and influencing the content of scientific theories as well as the particular empirical statements; 3) each observation is theory-laden; 4) certain differences in the assumptions behind scientific theories can result in their partial incommensurability; 5) the same empirical data can be explained within even radically different theoretical systems related to various philosophical assumptions with regard to the analyzed area; 6) all scientific statements, including the empirical ones, are of hypothetical character.

When attempting to solve a philosophical problem of the nature of science, which also falls within the scope of Philosophical Aspects of Origin, one is inevitably confronted with the questions arising in relation to certain border cases, such as the theory of intelligent design or creationism. Moreover, such concepts defend specific visions on the origin of the Universe, life, etc. Hence, we consider it relevant and necessary for the readership of our journal to be acquainted with the topics related to such concepts. This also means that the supporters of such concepts can try to make their views known by submitting a manuscript to our journal, even though we are aware that this practice can be considered controversial, especially given the contemporary cultural milieu. Such practice can also be easily misinterpreted. * By publishing articles of this kind, Philosophical Aspects of Origin does not intend to promote (directly or indirectly) either creationism or the theory of intelligent design, or other controversial ideas or views. In the spirit of Feyerabendian, pluralistic approach to knowledge, we are only supporting an open philosophical debate on specific problems.

Philosophical Aspects of Origin can be a venue for publishing articles describing the problems dealt with within natural sciences but only insofar as such articles also deal with philosophical problems, including meta-scientific considerations, or touch upon subjects relevant to philosophical analyses. A philosophical journal cannot be a venue for deciding factual adequacy of this or that scientific theory. Making such decisions falls within the remit of specialists working in particular disciplines of science.

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* A case in point are the publications of Bartosz Borczyk, who misinterprets the views and aims of people engaged in the development of Philosophical Aspects of Origin and thus creates a misleading impression with regard to the aims of the journal itself (see Bartosz Borczyk, „Creationism and the Teaching of Evolution in Poland”, Evolution: Education and Outreach 2010, vol. 3, p. 617 [614-620]; Bartosz Borczyk, „Poland”, in: Stefaan Blancke, Hans Henrik Hjermitslev, and Peter C. Kjærgaard (eds.), Creationism in Europe, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2014, pp. 134-135 [125-143]).